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This research explores how magnesium transport mechanisms in mammals evolved during the Carnian Pluvial Episode.

May 3, 2026Open Access

Mineral crisis as evolutionary driver: the Carnian Pluvial Episode, mammalian orotate-mediated magnesium transport, and lithium orotate as a contemporary footprint

Key Points

This research explores how magnesium transport mechanisms in mammals evolved during the Carnian Pluvial Episode.
Existing evidence is analyzed to connect historical environmental changes to modern biological mechanisms.
Focus on SLC2A9 (GLUT9) and SLC22A12 (URAT1) transporters as key players in magnesium and lithium metabolism.
Identified coordinated infrastructure for maternal magnesium delivery arising around ~234-232 Ma.
Link established between ancient transport mechanisms and modern pharmacokinetics of lithium orotate.

Abstract

We propose that a coordinated transport infrastructure present in modern mammals — comprising the SLC2A9 (GLUT9) facilitative transporter and the SLC22A12 (URAT1) organic anion exchanger — arose during the Carnian Pluvial Episode (~234-232 Ma) under selection for maternal magnesium delivery to offspring, and that the same infrastructure accounts for the distinctive pharmacokinetics of lithium orotate observed in modern mammals.

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